Foil tin transfer device



July 18, 1967 H. E. TEMPLE FOIL TIN TRANSFER DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed April 1, 1965 INVENTOR. HIRAM E. TEMPLE ATTORNEYS y 1967 H. E.TEMPLE FOIL TIN TRANSFER DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 1, l965 mmoo mhi mm ma mb F Nb INVENTOR HIRAM E. TEMPLE l za'unan, .[eazmau 5'cli'cChllua/i AT TQRNEYS y 13, 1967 H. E. TEMPLE FOIL TIN TRANSFERDEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 1, 1965 INVENTOR. HIRAM E. TEMPLE H aB b 6 laa'zman, lemma); 5 ducfulloc/l ATTORNEYS y 1957 H. E. TEMPLE FOILTIN TRANSFER DEVICE Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 1, 1965 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. HIRAM E. TEMPLE AT TOR NEYS Jul 18, 1967 H. E. TEMPLE 3, 5

FOIL TIN TRANSFER DEVICE Filed April 1, 1965 5 sheets-Sheet 99 a NI I, LI021 b I [00% l I mg 1 {I02 I l I L J I mg l I L J 54 104 I I05 107 5d II %:IO6 I 54|09 H g? L 1 FIG. 6

' INVENTOR. HIRAM E. TEMPLE flaw, .feazman. 6'1 cfncauaod ATTOR NEYSUnite Sats 3,331,485 FOIL TEN TRANSFER DEVICE Hiram E. Tenrpie, Saginaw,ri iiclL, assignor to Baker Perkins inc, Saginaw, Mich a corporation ofNew York Filed Apr. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 444,728 Ciairns. (El. 198-24) Thisinvention relates to transfer devices, and more particularly to transferapparatus capable of moving foil tins containing farinaceous productsfrom one position to another without in any way damaging or deformingthe tins. Throw-away tins of the character indicated may be about .003to .004 inch in thickness and, as they come from the oven, containcoffee cakes and the like. The shape of the tin will be dictated by theshape of the product it is to receive, and apparatus of the charactermentioned must be capable of transferring both round and oblong tins andalso tins of various sizes.

Generally speaking, tins of the character which will be illustratedinclude at their upper ends a horizontal rim portion and an upwardlyextending terminal rim portion which is shaped to receive andresiliently hold a paper cover disk or the like on the horizontalportion. Thus, if the transfer machinery in any way damages the upwardlyextending terminal rim portion particularly, subsequent machinery may berendered incapable of fitting the cover on the container or thecontainer may be deformed so that it cannot hold the cover in sealedrelation and such products will have to be removed from the processingline. It is very difficult to deal with tins of the thickness mentioned,which are so easily bent and deformed, and the result has been arelatively high percentage of discards in processing lines.

One of the prime objects of the present invention is to design transferapparatus capable of smoothly transferring a transverse row of 36 to 48product filled tins from an oven to a cooler without in any way damagingthe tins and rendering them unsuited to their purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus capable ofadvancing the tins at a relatively high rate of speed which will move asingle row of tins the relatively great distance from the oven to thecooler and returning in the time that the following row of tins, whichmay be only /2 inch removed as the tins come from the oven, proceeds adistance equal to the width of the tins, or a distance of perhaps 6 to 7inches.

A further object of the invention is to design transfer apparatus of thetype described which is capable of handling round tins as well as oblongtins, and of handling a wide variety of tins of widely varying size in aprocessing plant.

A still further object of the invention is to design transfer apparatuscapable of handling tins which have been deformed to some extent, sothat tin jams in the oven are avoided.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed outspecifically or will become apparent from the following description whenit is considered in conjunction with the appended claims and theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view showing the transfer apparatusdisposed in position above an oven conveyor and the cooler conveyor towhich the products are being transferred, the view being taken on theline 1-1 of FIGURE 2 and the gripping apparatus being shown in positionto grip tins coming from the oven;

FIGURE 2 is a left end elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational View moreparticularly illustrating the tin gripping members in position to bedropped vertically to engage the tin shown;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, end elevational view there of;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 with the gripper assembly raisedto lift the tin to the transfer position;

FIGURE 6 is a typical electrical circuit for the elements which operatethe apparatus.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawin s, wherein Ihave shown a preferred embodiment of the invention only, the aluminumfoil tins which are to be transferred are generally designated T and areshown in FIGURE 1 proceeding from left to right on an oven conveyorgenerally designated C, which includes an endless hearth plate member10' trained'around a discharge end, tubular roller 11 and longitudinallyextending guides 12. The roller 11 may be driven continuously at arelatively slow rate of speed, dependent on the baking time involved,and has hub portions 13 fixed on a shaft 14 which is journaled byhearing posts 15. Also shown in FIGURE 1 is the endless advanceconveyor, generally designated C, of a cooler or other processing unitto which the tins T are to be delivered. The conveyor member 16 ispreferably an endless grid which, in FIGURE 1, is shown trained around acharge end, tubular roller 17 and longitudinally extending guides 18,The roller 17 may have its hubs 19 fixed to a shaft 2i? which isjournaled by bearing posts 21. Both the endless members 10 and 16 aredriven in the direction a in any suitable and conventional manner and abridging plate 22 is supported between them in any suitable manner fromframework generally designated F supporting the transfer apparatus whichwill be presently described.

The tins T (FIGURE 3), which contain products 23, have laterallydirected rim portions 24 and upwardly directed rim portions 25 so that acover may be placed on the laterally directed portions 24 and beresiliently held in position by the upwardly directed wall portions 25.It is thus important that the wall portion 25 of the t-ins T not be bentoutwardly or inwardly, in order not to create problems in the apparatusfor covering the containers.

As shown particularly in FIGURE 2, the framework F includes verticalmembers 26 which, on one side of the apparatus are connected by ahorizontal platform 27. Fixed on the platform 27 at one side and onmembers 26 at the other are channel side members 28 which are connectedby transverse brace members 2? and provide a housing for transferoperating apparatus generally designated 36 which moves the dependentgripper assembly generally designated G from the conveyor C to theconveyor C and back again. At the left end of both the side channel 28shown in FIGURE 1 and the opposite side channel 28, a stub shaft 31 isjournaled in a bearing 32 supported on the respective channel member 28,and at the opposite right end of the apparatus 30 in FIG- URE 1 similarstub shafts 33 are journaled in similar bearings supported on the sidemembers 28. Sprockets 34 and 35 are fixed on each of the shafts 31 and33, respectively, at both sides of the apparatus 30, and chains 36 aretrained around the sprockets 34 and 35 as shown. Each of the pair ofchains 36 includes an inwardly projecting pin 37 on which a crank arm 38is journaled and at the opposite ends of arms 33 the crank arms connectwith a carriage member 39, the carriage member 39 mounting pins 4% whichare pivotally received by the ends of the crank arms 38. Longitudinallydisposed tracks 41 are supported by the transfer unit side members 28 ina manner to receive the guide rollers 42, which are journaled on supportshafts 43 which extend laterally from each side of carriage 39.

The chains 36 are driven by an electric motor 44 or other suitable driveunit. Provided on the motor 44 is an output shaft 45 on which is asprocket 46 which is connected to a sprocket 47 on a shaft 48 whichspans the transfer apparatus by a chain 2 9. Sprockets 50 on the shaft48 drive sprockets 51 on the shafts 33 by means of chains 52 which aretrained around the sprockets t? and 51. Further, a sprocket53 mounted onone of the rear shafts 33 connects with the shaft 54 of a cam box unit55, supported on channels 56, via a chain 57 which is trained aroundsprocket 53 and around a sprocket 58 fixed on the shaft 54. The purposeof this will be later considered. 7

Mounted on the transfer unit carriage 39, which travels horizontally intracks 41, is a double-acting, pneumatic cylinder 59 having a piston rod50 which is threaded as at 61 into the threaded bore 62 of a clevis 63which is secured in vertically adjusted postion by a nut 64-. The clevis63 supports the dependent gripper assembly G and is pinned as at 65 to amember 66 which is fixed to and supports a conveyor-spanning support barcomprising an angle iron assembly made up of angle members 67 and 68 andspacers 68a.

At each side of this angle iron assembly, countersunk screw members 69secure vertically extending, gripper mechanism mounting plates 7 i whichinclude upper plate parts 71 supporting threaded adjusting bolts orshafts 72. Backer plates 73 are mounted for vertical movement on themembers 70 by bolt and nut assemblies 74 which extend through slots 75provided in the strap members 70. The plates 73 are supported by theshafts 72 in a manner which will be described presently. Mounted on thebacker plates 73 by means of bolts 77 are doubleacting, pneumaticcylinders 78 which have dependent piston rods 79 supporting a grippermember guide channel 80 through clevises 81, piston rods 79 which arethreaded into the clevises 81 as at 82, and mount blocks 83 which arepinned to the clevis members 81 as at 34. The transversely extendingchannel guide 80 includes openings 85 and 86 freely accommodating nails87 which are supported in relatively closely spaced relation along thelength of the guide 80 as shown in FIGURE 2 and constitute verylight-weight upper gripper members.

Connecting each backer plate 73 with one of the adjusting shafts 72 is abracket 88 having an upper flange portion 88a including a reinforcingblock 88b, the head porti-on 72a of each bolt shaft 72 supporting eachbracket 88 and thereby each backer plate 73 for vertical movement witheach of the shafts 72. Each bracket 88 includes a dependent leg portion89 projecting below the guide bar 80 which has a horizontally extendingterminal flange portion or anvil 90 underlying the nail or pin members87 and, as shown in FIGURE 5, providing a support gripper surface forthe laterally turned rim portion 24 of the tins T. Threaded stud and nutassemblies 91 projecting from the nail or pin supporting guide 80 extendthrough vertically slotted openings 91 in the portions 89 and insureproper vertical travel of the guide 80 relative to the dependentportions 89 when the piston rods 79 are moved vertically to move thenails into or out of gripping relation. Slots 9.3 are provided in thebrackets 88 to freely pass the blocks 83.when the guide 80 is movedvertically.

Mounted on the angle plates 67 are guide rods 94 received in slidebushings 95 on the carriage 39 to insure true vertical travel of thegripper support assembly 67 relative to the horizontally travelingtransfer carriage 39. The adjusting shafts 72, which are supported foraxial movement by the plates 70, the shafts 72 extending throughthreaded openings 96, are provided at their upper ends with knurledadjusting wheels 97 to facilitate the manipulation thereof. Nuts 98 areprovided to secure the end wheels 97 in vertically fixed position on theV shafts 72.

In FIGURE 6 I have shown a typical circuit diagram including a source ofpower 99 in a circuit line a, and circuit lines bg. The advance andretract solenoids 100 and 101, respectively, of double-acting aircylinder 78 are included in the lines b and c, respectively, the line benoids 105 and 106, respectively, of the air cylinder 59.-

Line :1 includes a normally open cam box switch 107 and line e anormally open switch 108. Switch 107 is closed at proper times by cam109 provided also on the cam box shaft 54 and a relay R in line boperates to close the switch 198. Circuit lines 1 and g are the advanceand reverse lines for the motor 44 and include normally open switches111 and 112, respectively. Switch 111 in line is closed by a relay Renergized when switch 108 is made and switch 112 in line g is a cam boxswitch made by a cam 113 on shaft 54. A cam 'box switch 114 controlledby a cam 115 is also provided in line 1.

In operation, the apparatus is initially in the position indicated inFIGURE 3, with the pins or nails 87 raised and the bar 89 lowered,awaiting receipt of the transverse row of tins T proceeding from theoven. When the tins T contact the bar 89, as in FIGURE 3, the gap 102 isclosed and, with switch 102a closed, circuit line b is made. The advancesolenoids 100 of air cylinders 78 are energized to lower nail bar anddrop the nails 87 into engagement with the portions 24 of the tins T. Ifthe tins T are round, rather than of oblong configuration as shown, onlya few of the nails 87 will, of course, actually be in engagement withthe tins. At the time line b is made, relay R closes switch 108, whichis operated by a time delay device (not shown) so there is a slightdelay, and closing of switch 108, after nails 87 have engaged the tinsT, makes the circuit to the retract solenoid 106 of air cylinder 59 sothat the whole gripper assembly is raised to the position shown inFIGURE 5. At the same time, relay R closes contacts 111 to energizemotor 44, assuming switch 114 is closed, and carriage 39 moves to dragthe tins T across the remaining portion of conveyor 10, across bridgeplate 22, and onto the conveyor C. At this point and while the carriage39 continues to move to the right in FIGURE 1, the retract solenoids 101in circuit line 0 are energized on closing of the switch 103 by the cam104 and the nail bar 80 is lifted to raise the nails 87 and release thetin T so that it is deposited on the conveyor C as the carriage 39continues to moveto the right. By the time the carriage 39 has moved toa position of release, cam 10% has permitted switch 102a to open.Shortly thereafter, motor circuit line g is energized so that the motor44 is driven in the reverse direction. At this time cam 115 haspermitted switch 114 to open. Since the piston rod 60 of cylinder 59 isstill in retracted position, the member will return over the top of thetins T deposited to the position in which it is shown in FIGURE 1. Justbefore it reaches the leftward position, as shown in FIG URE l, theadvance solenoid of cylinder 59 is energized by the switch 107 beingclosed by cam 109 and the gripper assembly is lowered so that part 90 ismoved to the position in which it is shown in FIGURES 1 and 3.

To adjust the position of the gripper assembly to transfer pans ofdifferent size or shape, hand wheel 97 can be actuated to move backerplate 73 relative to member 70 and thereby provide changed initialpositions for the bar 80 and member 90.

In the event one of the cylinders 78 should momentarily be inoperativeso that when it suddenly became operative the sharp jerk would tend todisplace the nails 87 upwardly out of openings 86, a guard 116 issecured by bolts 117 to the member 80 to prevent such displacement ofnails 87. (Note FIGURES 3 and 4.)

It is to be understood that the drawings and descriptive matter are inall cases to be interpreted as merely illustrative of the principles ofthe invention rather than as limiting the same in any way, since it iscontemplated that various changes may be made in the various elements toachieve like results without departing from the spirit of the inventionor the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for transferring articles having lateral rim portionsspaced above the bottoms thereof from one position to a second positiongenerally longitudinally remote therefrom comprising: support surfacemeans for the articles; relatively movable, vertically spaced apartmembers for releasably gripping said rim portions, one of said memberscomprising a plurality of spaced apart pins; means for raising thegripping means slightly to raise the article, except for an oppositeedge, off the support surface means; means for dragging said articleacross the support surface means and moving the gripping means generallylongitudinally to said second position; and means for releasing saidgripping means.

2. Apparatus for transferring a row of tins having lateral rim portionsfrom one position to a second position generally longitudinally remotetherefrom comprising: support surface means for said tins a firstgripper part having a lateral portion disposed in one position a spaceddistance above said support surface means and adapted to receive thelateral rim portions of the tins; a second gripper port comprising a rowof spaced apart tin contacting members normally disposed a spaceddistance above said lateral portion and mounted for relative verticalmovement therewith to engage a plurality of tins; means for moving thegripper parts relatively vertically to engage the tin contacting memberswith the tins; means for moving the gripper parts generallylongitudinally to said second position; and means for releasing one ofsaid gripper parts to release the tins.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 in which the second gripper partincludes a bar and the tin contacting members comprise dependent pinmeans mounted thereon.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 in which said pin means comprisenails capable of upward movement relative to said bar.

5. Apparatus for transferring an article from one position to anotherposition generally longitudinally remote therefrom comprising: carriagemeans; a gripper assembly carried thereby including upper and lowerarticle gripper parts; said upper part comprising a bar means having aseries of openings therein; pins carried in said openings and mountedtherein for upward movement so that the gripping pressure exertedthereby is a matter of the weight of the pins engaging the article;means preventing said pins from falling completely through saidopenings; means operable to raise and lower said assembly; meansoperable to move one of said gripper parts relatively to the other forreleasably gripping an edge of the article between said pins and lowergripper part; means moving the carriage generally longitudinally to saidsecond position; means for releasing said gripper parts; and means forreturning said carriage.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 in which guard means is mounted aspaced distance above said pins to prevent upward movement thereofbeyond a point where they would be removed from said openings.

7. The combination of claim 5 in which means mounts the gripper partsand means operable to move one of said gripper parts relatively to theother for vertical movement on said gripper assembly.

8. Apparatus for transferring a row of product filled tins, havinghorizontal rim portions bounded by terminal vertical rim portions, fromone position to another position generally longitudinally remotetherefrom comprising: carriage means; means supporting said carriagemeans for forward and rearward travel; a dependent gripper part having alateral portion extending forwardly into the path of the tins so thatthe tins have their horizontal portions received on the lateral portion;nail bar means mounted on said gripper part for movement verticallythereon; the nail bar means having nail accommodating openings and nailsloosely received therein; means responsive to the arrival of tins atsaid gripper part operative to lower said nail bar means for releasablygripping one end of the article; support surface between said first andsecond positions; means for raising the gripper part and nail bar meansslightly to raise the article to a tilted position on the supportsurface; means for moving the carriage means generally longitudinallyand dragging said article across the support surface to said secondposition; and means for raising said nail bar means and releasing saidtins at the second position while the carriage is still movinglongitudinally.

9. Apparatus for transferring a row of product filled tins, havinghorizontal rim portions bounded by terminal vertical rim portions, fromone position to another position generaly longitudinally remotetherefrom comprising: carriage means; means supporting said carriagemeans for forward and rearward travel; endless drive and crank means formoving said carriage means in a reciprocating path; a gripper assemblycarried by said carriage means and including a support part; threadedshaft means carried by said support part and movable vertically relativethereto; a dependent gripper part having a vertical portion supported bysaid shaft means and a lateral portion extending forwardly into the pathof the tins so that the tins have their horizontal portions received onthe lateral portion; a support surface between said first and secondpositions; pin bar means mounted on said gripper part for limitedmovement vertically thereon; the pin bar means having pin accommodatingopenings and pins loosely received therein; means supported by saidshaft means, operative to lower said pin bar means for releasablygripping one edge of the tins; means for raising the gripper assemblyrelative to the carriage to raise the tins to a tilted position on thesupport surface; and means for moving the pin bar means upwardly, whenthe carriage means has moved generally longitudinally to said secondposition and dragged said article across the support surface, forreleasing said tins at the second position.

10. A method of transporting deformable tins comprising: mechanicallygripping one edge of a tin as it comes from a product treating deviceraising the tin to a tilted position while supporting it from beneath sothat the full weight of the tin is not placed on the edge; and draggingthe tin to a second position and releasing it.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,244,988 6/1941 Fuller 294-1032,696,927 12/1954 Coppin-g 198-179 2,808,285 10/1957 Robuck 294-4032,996,204 8/1961 Jensen 214 514 3,198,309 8/1965 Ogawa 198-M EVON C.BLUNK, Primary Examiner. RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING ARTICLES HAVING LATERAL RIM PORTIONSSPACED ABOVE THE BOTTOMS THEREOF FROM ONE POSITION TO A SECOND POSITIONGENERALLY LONGITUDINALLY REMOTE THEREFROM COMPRISING: SUPPORT SURFACEMEANS FOR THE ARTICLES; RELATIVELY MOVABLE, VERTICALLY SPACED APARTMEMBERS FOR RELEASABLY GRIPPING SAID RIM PORTIONS, ONE OF SAID MEMBERSCOMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SPACED APART PINS; MEANS FOR RAISING THEGRIPPING MEANS SLIGHTLY TO RAISE THE ARTICLE, EXCEPT FOR AN OPPOSITEEDGE, OFF THE SUPPORT SURFACE MEANS; MEANS FOR DRAGGING SAID ARTICLEACROSS THE SUPPORT SURFACE MEANS AND MOVING THE GRIPPING MEANS GENERALLYLONGITUDINALLY TO SAID SECOND POSITION; AND MEANS FOR RELEASING SAIDGRIPPING MEANS.